Wow! What an incredible day to be an American. I mean that as a citizen of the United States, because I think the hoo-ha over what to call us in English is a bunch of politically correct BS. It is also an incredible day to be an American in the sense of this whole New World, both North and South America. If you are going to have a 200 lb gorilla for a neighbor, it's a very good thing to have the USA and President Barack Obama rather than China or Russia or Iran as some others have to deal with.

We got up early and went over to our friend's house to watch the inauguration on their TV. They are in California but kindly left us the key for just this kind of need. Thank you John and Mary!

I admit, I teared up a couple of times. I'm a sucker for pageantry but this was more due to the enormity of the change, the incredible dignity of the man and the beauty of the speech. He is a charismatic and charming man, an excellent speaker, we should expect that from our leader. Just because we have had a blubbering fool for the last 8 years doesn't change the fact that the standard should be high.

His words were well crafted and I fully expect they will someday be carved in granite on a monument close to where he spoke them. He knew that too and knew that these words would be quoted and remembered, he chose them well.

I cheered when I heard him say "we will restore science to its rightful place" - this is a man of our times not some old, tired, bumbler who would force us to live according to the rules of two thousand years ago. Can we really regain what we've lost in the teaching of science, the rewards for agile and logical minds, the respect and love of science our country once had? I hope so.

I found a lot to like in that speech, there are many quotes that will become a part of the history of our country. It's the small phrases that caught me, the promise of transparency, the idea that we as a rich nation can no longer live as if the rest of the world is irrelevant. The idea that the world has changed and we must change with it, that we CAN change with it. Take your tired old ideas of politics and your tired old politicians and get out of the way. It was an incredible half time speech, the game is not over you can go out there and still win.

I'm old enough to remember the civil rights movement. In the fall of 1963 I went to the south to live for a year, I was sent to a small college there to try and keep me out of trouble. It didn't work, I lasted 3 months and ran away to New Orleans. There are a lot of old stories there that I'm not going into now. The point is, I remember the shock I felt when I encountered things like Colored and White entrances, waiting rooms, drinking fountains. I was dropped into an alien land and it scared me and confused me and seemed so incredibly ridiculous and pointless. It shook my world. I watched SNCC and Dr King and hundreds and thousands of brave but nameless people show the world that ignorance, stupidity and racism did not belong in the USA. Now, I have watched a child of that era become the 44th President of the United States of America. I'm very proud. ¡Viva President Obama! ¡Viva USA!